Media Advisory 17-011

Scientists representing LIGO, Virgo, and some 70 observatories will reveal new details and discoveries made in the ongoing search for gravitational waves

October 11, 2017

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

WHAT:
Journalists are invited to join the National Science Foundation (NSF) as it brings together scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo collaborations, as well as representatives for some 70 observatories, Monday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The gathering will begin with an overview of new findings from LIGO, Virgo and partners that span the globe, followed by details from telescopes that work with the LIGO and Virgo collaborations to study extreme events in the cosmos.

The first detection of gravitational waves, made Sept. 14, 2015 and announced Feb. 11, 2016, was a milestone in physics and astronomy; it confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity, and marked the beginning of the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy. Since then, there have been three more confirmed detections, one of which (the most recently announced) was the first confirmed detection seen jointly by both the LIGO and Virgo detectors.

The published articles announcing LIGO’s first, second, and third confirmed detections have been cited more than 1,700 times total, according to Web of Science citation counts. A fourth paper on the three-detector observation was published Oct 6; a manuscript was made publicly available Sept. 27.

Journalists interested in attending should RSVP to 1016rsvp@mit.edu as soon as possible, and by 12 p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 13 at the latest, to guarantee a response.  

WHEN:
Monday, Oct. 16, 2017
10 a.m. U.S. EDT
** Panels will begin at 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., with a 15-minute break in between. The event is expected to conclude by 12:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided.

WHERE:
The National Press Club
Holeman Lounge
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045

WHO:
The following researchers will offer brief opening remarks over the course of two panels, with time for questions at the end of each panel:

10:00 a.m.

Moderator: France Córdova, director of the National Science Foundation

• David Reitze, executive director, LIGO Laboratory/Caltech
• David Shoemaker, spokesperson, LIGO Scientific Collaboration/MIT
• Jo van den Brand, spokesperson, Virgo Collaboration/Nikhef, VU University Amsterdam
• Julie McEnery, Fermi Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
• Marica Branchesi, Virgo Collaboration/Gran Sasso Science Institute, Italy
• Vicky Kalogera, astrophysicist, LIGO Scientific Collaboration/Northwestern University

11:15 a.m.

Moderator: Jim Ulvestad, NSF acting assistant director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences

• Laura Cadonati, deputy spokesperson, LIGO Scientific Collaboration/Georgia Tech
• Andy Howell, staff scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory/UC-Santa Barbara
• Ryan Foley, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics, University of California-Santa Cruz
• Marcelle Soares-Santos, assistant professor, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/Brandeis University
• David Sand, assistant professor in astronomy, University of Arizona
• Nial Tanvir, professor of astrophysics, University of Leicester, UK
• Edo Berger, professor of astronomy, Harvard University
• Eleonora Troja, research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Maryland
• Alessandra Corsi, assistant professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Tech University

MEDIA RSVP & INQUIRIES:

Due to seating constraints and security at the venue, journalists interested in attending should RSVP to 1016rsvp@mit.edu as soon as possible, and by 12 p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 13, at the latest, to guarantee a response. We will try to accept RSVPs after that point, but cannot guarantee access. A mult box will be available for broadcast media, and the Press Club is equipped with wireless access.

Reporters interested in receiving embargoed information related to the research being presented can contact the media representative listed below or email 1016rsvp@mit.edu; in doing so, please confirm that you and your outlet’s editors honor embargoes. We will then share embargoed material with you Friday, Oct. 13.

To RSVP or request embargoed material, please email 1016rsvp@mit.edu. Please refer other questions to the public information officers listed in the "Media Contacts" section below. 

LIVE WEBCAST:

For press not based in the Washington, D.C., area, this event will be simulcast live online, and we will try to answer some questions submitted remotely. For details about how to participate remotely, please contact Aya Collins at NSF. 

###

LIGO is funded by NSF, and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived of LIGO and led the Initial and Advanced LIGO projects. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,200 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes the GEO Collaboration. Additional partners are listed at http://ligo.org/partners.php.

The Virgo collaboration consists of more than 280 physicists and engineers belonging to 20 different European research groups: six from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France; eight from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy; two in the Netherlands with Nikhef; the MTA Wigner RCP in Hungary; the POLGRAW group in Poland; Spain with the University of Valencia; and the European Gravitational Observatory, EGO, the laboratory hosting the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, funded by CNRS, INFN, and Nikhef.

-NSF-

---

Media Contacts
Aya Collins, NSF, (703) 292-7737, email: acollins@nsf.gov
Kimberly Allen, LIGO-LSC-MIT, (617) 253-2702, email: allenkc@mit.edu
Emily Velasco, LIGO-Caltech, (626) 395-6487, email: evelasco@caltech.edu
Jason Maderer, LSC-Georgia Tech, (404) 385-2966, email: maderer@gatech.edu

---

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

 Get News Updates by Email 

Connect with us online
NSF website: nsf.gov
NSF News: nsf.gov/news
For News Media: nsf.gov/news/newsroom
Statistics: nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards database: nsf.gov/awardsearch/

Follow us on social
Twitter: twitter.com/NSF
Facebook: facebook.com/US.NSF
Instagram: instagram.com/nsfgov